Alaala ni Bam Aquino Kay Ninoy

Ni Oggie Medina

SI Bam Aquino ay naging miyembro ng Dulaan Sibol theatre group. Naging bahagi rin siya ng Children’s Hour TV show sa Channel 2 noong siya’y 10 years old. Nang nagbinata ay naging host siya ng Breakfast, isang youth-oriented morning talk show sa ABS-CBN’s Studio 23; isang youth-oriented debate show, ang Yspeak, sa Studio 23 din; isang show para sa budding entrepreneurs, ang Start-Up, sa ABS-CBN News Channel.

Naalala ni Bam na binisita niya sa bilangguan ang kanyang Uncle Ninoy Aquino noong siya’y 2 o 3 years old pa lamang. Nang mamatay ang kanyang uncle sa tarmac noong Agosto 21, 1983, siya’y anim na taong gulang. “I, together with my yaya (nanny), was the one left in the house when my parents and two brothers (Paul Dennis and Paul Victor) went to the airport. I was small… When my parents came back in the afternoon, I saw the reaction on their face. They were shocked.”

Naalala rin niya na sumasali siya sa rallies at nagbigay ng kanyang kauna-unahang public speech noong December 8, 1983, sa Feast of the Immaculate Conception sa Binan, Laguna. “It was a children’s rally, but eventually it became a regular indignation rally. My mom prepared me a speech written in a yellow pad. We didn’t have a computer then, and I memorized it. We had been to over 200 places as far as Mindanao, and I spoke. It was almost every night after I went home from school and did my homework. Sa gabi ay umiikot na kami. That was really my childhood. But it was a gift to be exposed during that time. To be able to see Filipinos coming together for a cause larger than themselves is a blessing… We got a glimpse of something special. We got a glimpse of what we can do and what we can be…Iyon ang childhood memories ko. That’s why I ran for student council, joined an NGO and later the government, and was involved in social enterprise. Kahit bata ako, I understood what was happening, at the time when you experience Filipinos coming together. And you’re still trying to look for that time when we will come together again.”